2024, February 10: Daylight Exceeds Darkness

February 10, 2024: Today the length of daylight exceeds darkness.  Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn continue their shift compared to the sun.

2022, February 2: Sunrise
Photo Caption – 2022, February 2: Sunrise

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:53 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:17 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Daylight Exceeds Darkness

Today at Chicago’s latitude, the length of daylight exceeds darkness.  This is not to be confused with the equinox that occurs next month.  The twenty-four-hour cycle can be identified as three distinct components:  daylight, twilight, and darkness. Daylight occurs between sunrise and sunset.  Twilight is the period either before sunrise or after sunset when the sun is below the horizon and the sky is illuminated.  Darkness occurs after the end of evening twilight and ends at the beginning of morning twilight.  The sky is as dark as it gets naturally.

Darkness exceeded daylight on October 30, 2023, until today, lasting 102 days.  Daylight continues to increase to over fifteen hours at the summer solstice.

The period when darkness is longer than daylight depends on latitude.  At Cocoa, Florida’s latitude the period lasts 59 days; Tucson, Arizona, 80 days; Fayette, Missouri, 98 days; Seattle, Washington, 112 days; and Juneau, Alaska, 120 days.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Venus and Mars

2024, February 10: Venus is low in the southeast before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 10: Venus is low in the southeast before sunrise.

Venus continues to rise later each morning as it heads toward a conjunction with the sun later this year.  At forty-five minutes before daybreak, the Morning Star is over 5° above the southeast horizon.  It steps eastward in front of Sagittarius.

2024, February 10: At thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus and Mars appear in the same binocular field of view.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 10: At thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus and Mars appear in the same binocular field of view.

Venus is overtaking Mars, 5.6° to the brilliant planet’s lower left.  Look for them through a binocular at thirty minutes before sunrise.  A Venus-Mars conjunction occurs on the 22nd.

Mercury

Mercury is moving toward superior conjunction, when the sun is between the planet and Earth, on the 28th.

Evening Sky

Saturn and Moon

2024, February 10: Saturn is low in the west-southwest after sunset.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 10: Saturn is low in the west-southwest after sunset.

Saturn is another planet in transition.  Appearing about 5° above the west-southwest horizon at forty-five minutes after nightfall, the Ringed Wonder is at solar conjunction on the 28th, along with Mercury’s event.

2024, February 10: At thirty minutes after sundown, the crescent moon and Saturn appear in the same binocular field of view.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 10: At thirty minutes after sundown, the crescent moon and Saturn appear in the same binocular field of view.

Fifteen minutes earlier, use a binocular to find the razor thin crescent moon, 2% illuminated, 3.0° to the lower left of Saturn.  The crescent is over 5° above the horizon. Tomorrow evening the lunar crescent appears to Saturn’s upper left.

Saturn sets seventy-seven minutes after sunset.  Each evening it sets four minutes earlier compared to night’s beginning.

Jupiter

2024, February 10: An hour after sunset, Jupiter is high in the southwest.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 10: An hour after sunset, Jupiter is high in the southwest.

Bright Jupiter gleams from the southwest after sunset.  It moves eastward in front of Aries, approaching an imaginary line made by Hamal, 11.0° to the planet’s upper right, and Menkar, 13.1° to the lower left.

Jupiter sets around midnight and appears high in the southwest again tomorrow evening.

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